U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 22, 2002

Ryan Moore

CRAIG SMITH: Never lost a hole. Won five and you're not supposed to make it look this easy whether you got to the quarterfinals.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, it was just one of those days. I don't think -- no, I didn't make a bogey and I think that was the biggest key in the match. It wasn't necessarily the birdies -- or did I? Oh, right.

Q. First hole?

RYAN MOORE: No, that was in the morning.

Q. Not after that?

RYAN MOORE: And then in the afternoon match, I didn't make any bogeys there. And on this golf course, that's going to win matches. I mean, if I would have made all pars I probably would be dead up within anyone. And that's just what I kind of went out there to do, make a lot of pars and make a few birdies here and there and that always helps.

Q. Would this be your A-game?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, these last two matches are definitely as close as I've gotten lately to my A-game. So, yeah, that was pretty good. I was striking the ball pretty well. I wasn't hitting very many fairways though. That second match, gosh, I don't think I hit half of them probably. I was hitting it all over the place. But just recovering all right and giving myself good putts for par.

CRAIG SMITH: So far, do you still like playing golf in Michigan.

RYAN MOORE: Still like it. It will take a lot to make me not like it. But, yeah, for now, definitely.

Q. You said you made a few birdies. But the fact is you made more than a few. You made a whole bushel full. How do you explain that?

RYAN MOORE: In the afternoon or just all day?

Q. All day.

RYAN MOORE: All day.

Q. You made a bunch in the morning too.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah. The morning, I was hitting the ball a little bit better than the afternoon. I made four birdies in the morning. I made those three in a row to end off the match and I got in a little groove and just seeing the line really well with my putter and hitting it and they were going in. The last hole he conceded was about a three footer, I think, to end the match. And then the morning, I just kind of -- or the afternoon -- I just kind of tried to keep that going out and firing at them. Even the ones I missed I was really close to making.

Q. Even with those two concessions for birdie, I believe it was this morning, you had like a nine- or a ten-hole stretch that was pretty spectacular.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah. I guess.

Q. I mean is that, do you get on rolls like that or have you ever had a roll like that particular one before?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah. I think the finals of the APL was pretty good. I made about 14 birdies there in 27 holes. I think I was on a little bit of a roll. So this -- I definitely can. I can get in a little bit of a groove and I guess kind of getting in the zone a little bit and just not really fading out all the other distractions and I'm just focusing on what I got to do and just making putts. That's the biggest thing.

Q. Why are you such a good match play player, especially this year. You haven't lost in the nine matches?

RYAN MOORE: I don't know.

Q. Do you just capitalize on mistakes?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, that and I am pretty scrappy out there. I just, I don't ever give up, I guess would be a good way to put it. No matter what. The 11th hole was a good example of that. I blocked it way right into the rough. Well, I had just a horrendous lie there. Just terrible. Barely even saw the ball. Just chunked it out still in the rough. About 40 yards short and I almost holed it. I hit a flop shot over the bunker, trickled up, hit the pin and ended up rolling a foot by. I ended up making a birdie but at the same time it's almost -- I made him still work for it . And I think that's what it takes in match play and definitely capitalizing on the good shots that you hit. Making most birdies when you can.

Q. You told me the other day that one of your philosophies was wearing the other opponent out during match play, but you're not really doing that. Would you care to readdress that?

RYAN MOORE: Wearing them out? I think I wore them out pretty good today. I beat them, I guess that's usually wearing them out to me. But, no, just still, I think the same thing. Just trying to hit as many fairways and as many greens as you can. And like I said, making pars on this golf course is going to win holes. And I ended up winning quite a few for me today. Just by playing not conservative but just hitting solid shots. Not going for every flag, just hitting them in the middle of the greens sometimes.

Q. I talked to you this morning, but again, can you talk about that eagle on number six. What did you hit? How far was that?

RYAN MOORE: Okay. That was 132, with a 9-iron. In the rough. I had to hit it underneath a tree, carry it over a bunker. It wasn't one of those shots. I would have been more than happy to even hit the green. And it just came out perfect. It was right on line. It landed exactly where I needed to. It trickled, just barely went in, just barely dropped in the front edge, so.

Q. Is there any way to explain the confidence you have in your game now versus a month ago when you were going through this kind of a roll?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, it's feeling pretty similar right now. I think I definitely have kind of carried that confidence with me to this tournament. I just tried to play the exact same way as I did there. Just my stroke play, just trying to shoot around even to get, to go ahead and that's always going to make the cut, is my theory about that. So I kind of did -- just carried it on just match play. I love getting in match play. I love the head-to-head competition and I just enjoy it. I go out there and work as hard as I can.

Q. When you get on these birdie tears, is it usually more of a product of your ballstriking or putting?

RYAN MOORE: It's probably a combination of the two. You got to do both to make them, I guess, so it's an -- it's all of them. Once I get rolling, once I start making birdies, I start hitting it good and I start making the putts and capitalize on them. So I think it goes both ways.

Q. He bogeyed two of the first three holes today, and then he gets on a run on the back side, goes birdie, birdie and then you have to birdie 12 to stop him. What was more important, do you believe in the match, his bogeys or your birdies? One of his bogeys or one of your birdies?

RYAN MOORE: What's that? Early? Oh, those bogeys always help. It gave me a little bit of a cushion, gave me a little bit of comfort out there. I felt like I didn't have to maybe fire as much at the pins to go ahead and make the birdies and then just kind of that always helps to get an early lead like that. I haven't done it yet. That was my first match that I have actually taken. I've lost the first hole both my first matches actually. So that just kind of got me in a comfort zone, I think. But at the same time, then after I got in that, then I started making some birdies on top and I just kind of compounded it even more. And, so, it was kind of both of them were -- it's hard to say which one affected the match more. But I would say that helped me out a lot. It kind of got me comfortable and let me go ahead and just play.

CRAIG SMITH: Would you take your chances if you played down three, more of these like you played in the afternoon.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I like my chances if I keep playing like that. Shooting around even on this golf course is going to win a lot of matches. So if I keep shooting under par, I mean that's great.

Q. How aware are you of the brackets of the other matches, who is on your side of the bracket? Who you'll be playing next? Are you aware of that or are you just taking whoever comes?

RYAN MOORE: I like to just kind of take whoever comes. Honestly, I haven't been paying that much attention. I had no idea who I was playing this morning. I didn't know until late in the match there that who I was playing in the afternoon. I just try not to pay attention to it too much. I want to play the same way no matter who it is. So I just try and keep that mindset.

Q. What have you done in the past month since the APL? Have you played a lot and also what's been your routine when you've been here? I know you're staying with your caddy. Do you have friends up here? Because I know at the APL you didn't have people from Washington come out and watch you?

RYAN MOORE: No one else came out here with me. My routine? Oh, how -- yeah, how have I been practicing? I practice a little bit here and there. I don't know. I try and relax a little bit over the summer as much as possible. We have such a busy schedule at school playing non-stop there. I figure you got to have somewhat of a break. So, but I've been playing tournaments. This is my fourth tournament, I think of the summer. So I had one tournament just a couple weeks ago before that. I practiced a lot more before that one than I did coming here. I didn't get much of a chance, I was packing up everything, getting to go back to school and so I didn't give much chance before I came out here. But once I got here I made sure and practiced quite a bit.

CRAIG SMITH: Since your U.S. Open you went on tear. How was that Open experience?

RYAN MOORE: Oh, man, like I've told everybody, after playing that golf course, nothing could look hard. Even this golf course, this is a heck of a golf course. It's tough. But that golf course is just, that was brutal. That was a toughest driving golf course I've ever seen in my entire life. And that really, I think it helps. It kind of puts everything into perspective a lot for me. I kind of see where everything's at, so.

Q. When you qualified for the Open, were you aware that that got you into the APL and the Amateur without having to go through qualifying or did you find that out later?

RYAN MOORE: I think I knew -- I'm trying to think now. If someone told me or after I had done it. I think I knew. I think I remember reading that in the applications somewhere. But I don't think it was kind of high, I wasn't really thinking about it, oh, I get in the Open I can be exempt or anything like that. I think I had a decent idea.

Q. Where in the world is Puyallup?

RYAN MOORE: Puyallup is about 40 minutes south of Seattle. It's kind of a suburb of Tacoma. And if you want to pronounce it, don't look at it. Say Puyallup.

Q. You said that Bethpage was a really tough driving course. How much did you use the driver out there versus a course like this?

RYAN MOORE: You had to use it. You had no choice. You had to carry it 265 it seemed like every hole. So I used it definitely a lot more out there. This course, actually match play I actually changed my game plan a little bit on some of the holes I'm hitting more drivers now than I did during stroke play. But this is a course that you don't have to hit as many drivers as you did there. You can hit some two irons off the tee and still going to have the mid too long irons in, but you can hit the two irons. No problem. You don't have to carry it the 265 or into the wind and the rain and bunkers and weeds and all that good stuff.

CRAIG SMITH: We would like to write about somebody who wins the APL and the US Amateur in the same year, that's never been done before.

RYAN MOORE: I would love you to write about it too. I tell that you much. I'm going to do my best. I'm trying as hard as I can. Just got to take it one match at a time though.

Q. Why did you change your strategy?

RYAN MOORE: Somewhat because of what other opponents do, like on number one I hit 2-iron, I was planning on hitting 2-iron there off the tee just because it's a pretty tight hole. But the wind had changed a little bit and it was kind of with us. Those bunkers pretty much really aren't even in play so I decided to go ahead and hit a driver on one. Just so I could get it out there. That's a tough shot hitting a long iron into the green and trying to hit the right section of the green there. Because it's so hilly. But then the same thing on number four I decided to go ahead and hit a driver. I got it down to, I think like about 80 yards there on number four today. And I was hitting 2-iron off the tee there during the stroke play.

CRAIG SMITH: Did we wear him out enough? All right. Thank you.

RYAN MOORE: Thank you.

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